by Paul A. Rice
‘Yes,’ Mary said, ‘When she was in town, there wouldn’t be a day passed when Andi didn’t come down to the park, she loved this place…’ She leaned across and put her head on Ray’s shoulder.
Bryony stepped forward, holding out the urn. The three of them placed their hands around it and together they shook the last remains of Andi, beloved daughter, mother and sister, onto the surface of the lake. Harley stayed on my shoulders, leaning forward with his arms clasped tightly about my neck, silently watching the proceedings. He never said a word, but I could feel him shaking – it was probably the worst moment for me.
‘We’re having a bench made for her,’ Bryony said. ‘They usually make you put them alongside the footpaths in the park, but because she was so popular with the viewers and…’ she paused, sniffing, before saying: ‘They’ve given us permission for it to be placed down by the water…’
‘And a tree, Bry,’ Harley said, suddenly perking-up. ‘Don’t forget the tree! It’s going to be a… umm…’ he thought for a while, before saying: ‘A Flowering Cherry Tree, because it’s pretty like my Mom was, she was really beautiful…’ Then he simply burst into tears.
Sitting with his head turned, cheek resting upon the top of my head, poor little Harley just sobbed his heart out. I could feel his hot tears running down the side of my neck. That kid, he cried enough tears for the pair of us, and that was good, because…
Mary reached up to take him down, feeling the boy clenching his legs around my shoulders, I put my fingers up to my lips and mouthed the words: ‘Leave him, it’s Okay – he’ll be fine in a bit…’ She nodded, smiling at me through her own tears.
After a while I think they were all cried-out. Feeling emotionally drained, the four of us, Harley still sitting on my shoulders with his cheek resting on my head, walked over to the blanket and sat down in the fading sunlight. Once we had gathered ourselves sufficiently, we packed up the picnic and stood watching Harley as he carried out some night-fighter training, zooming in and out of the trees and their shadows whilst the sun slipped away. Kids, they’re just able to deal with things in a more simplified manner than us adults.
‘That boy’s gonna be a fighter-pilot someday, don’t you think?’ I asked, laughing softly at Harley’s antics. The comment lightened the mood, in no time at all the five of gathered together and gave out some big hugs all-round.
As I prepared to go, Bry asked if I fancied having a drink later that evening. ‘We could meet somewhere and I can show you the city lights, if you fancy it?’ she said, sweeping her arm out in the general direction.
I nodded, saying: ‘Yeah, that would be great – I don’t think I’m up for sitting in some revolving-restaurant and knocking back half-price cocktails all on my own anyway, especially not tonight…’
‘Oh, that’s tonight, is it?’ she said. ‘My God, last time Andi and I went, we couldn’t even stand by the end of the night!’
‘That sounds like my kind of night!’ I said, with a laugh. ‘Just give me a ring later on, we can meet at the hotel, if you’d like?’
She agreed, saying that she would go home and sort a few things out before coming over to the Marriot.
So, with one more round of farewells, and promising that I would go to Ray and Mary’s house for a meal before I left New York, I said my goodbyes and made my way back through the darkening park.
Once I arrived back at my room, I showered, got changed into something more comfortable and had a beer from the mini-bar. I felt strangely calm, almost fulfilled. Things seemed to have moved-on for me. Seeing Andi’s family and having been able to tell them about what had happened, even if it was only an abridged version of the events, had somehow banished the demons from my mind.
I felt at peace.
***
Two-hours later, Bryony called me. ‘Hi, I’m in the lobby bar – should I order something for you, what’s your poison, spirits or beer?’
‘Both,’ I said. ‘But I’d love a cold beer to start with…’
‘They have bottles of Corona down here, do you take lime?’
‘Yeah, that sounds great!’
‘Consider it done,’ she said.
‘Thanks, I’ll be right down, just give me ten minutes.’
‘Don’t rush; I’m not going anywhere…’
When I joined her, Bryony was wearing a simple black dress and a pair of black high-heels. With a thin gold chain around her neck, she looked stunning. Seeing me entering the bar, she rose to her feet and we embraced like old friends. It was weird to think I had only known her for a few, short hours.
I took a seat at her table and reached across to chink bottles. Bry, too, was on the Mexican stuff, and with a slice of lime stuffed into the neck of the bottle, our beers hit the spot perfectly.
She never did get the opportunity to show me the lights that night. The conversation was too interesting and the beers were too good, so we decided to just stay in the hotel. After spending about two hours in the bar, we decided to go up to the revolving-restaurant, laughing as the elevator shot us skywards, the speed of its rising making the feet go light. Stepping out at the top and heading into the large, circular room, I saw that the view was awesome.
A wall of glass surrounded the room, with the outer ring of the floor rotating through a complete circle in sixty minutes. We took a seat at a table on the outer ring, and whilst Bry studied the list of drinks available, which was quite substantial, I sat and stared out of the window, using the little guide on the table to help identify the various buildings as they crept past on the skyline.
The table came with its own, personal waiter. Well, Marco actually waited-upon three tables, and that was probably just as well, because in no a time at all, Bry and I were sampling the first of many, half-price cocktails. Those drinks may have been very cheap, but they weren’t weak…
Just as I had done with her twin-sister, Bryony and I talked about everything we could think of. The conversation was easy, flowing to-and-fro between us without anything in particular being focussed upon. Of course, we sent a fair amount of time talking about Andi, but that was to be expected. Bryony told me that in addition to looking after Harley almost full-time, she also did some freelance reporting for TV stations and wrote the odd article here-and-there for local newspapers and magazines.
‘It’s very cliquey, the news industry,’ she said, taking a sip of some monstrous chocolate-concoction, ‘if your face doesn’t fit then you’re screwed. Plus, I’ve been out of the loop for a while and you get left behind, you know?’
I did know – it was the same in my industry. If you didn’t keep on working, you would soon find yourself not working at all.
‘I don’t mind, though,’ she said, smiling at me. ‘Looking after Harley is a joy, and when Andi was bringing the bacon home, we did Okay…’
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘That’s going to be a tough one.’
‘We’ll sort things out – Mom and Dad are great, they’re both retired so things are tight for them as well, but I’d be lost without them, and so would the little guy.’ Bry raised her hand and ordered another round of drinks. By the looks of things, she was determined for us to work our way down the complete list.
That suited me just fine.
She asked me to go over the details of her sister’s death again, but in more depth. ‘I know you skipped stuff for Mom-and-Dad’s benefit, and that was very admirable of you, Jake. But I want to know the whole truth, I have to know, I don’t know why, I just do…’
So I did, I told her the whole damned lot, even about our time on the roof on the morning of Andi’s death. Seeing Bryony’s eyes filling with tears, I stopped talking to wait whilst she used a tissue to carefully dry her eyes.
She looked up and smiled. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I’m not blubbing in sorrow, I’m just so happy that she spent that time with you. She spent her last night in laughter and happiness with her favourite tipple and her favourite man, that’s got to be good!’
‘Yea
h, it was a great night – we didn’t want it to end,’ I said, softly.
Bry smiled and sat there looking at me. With the soft lights of New York City filling the glass horizon behind her, she was very beautiful.
‘You do know that Andi was in love with you, don’t you, Jake?’ she said, suddenly.
Her question was yet another memory from that last night on the roof – Andi asking the same thing about that other women, Micky, or whatever she’d been called – I just sat and stared at Bry for a few minutes. She saw me struggling and was good enough to wait until I had gathered my thoughts a bit.
‘I don’t know about that,’ I said, after a few moments. ‘We had a bit of a thing going, I suppose. Yeah, there was definitely a chance that it may have grown into something, but…’ I shrugged in resignation.
‘She loved you, of that I’m sure!’ Bry said. ‘I know my sister like I know myself, and she was like that – Andi didn’t fall for many men in her life, but when she did fall, she fell hard and she fell deep!’
I didn’t say anything, what could I say? Instead, I just sat and listened to Bryony as she talked about Andi.
With a laugh, she said, ‘She rang me many times whilst she was with you over there, when she could get her damned-phone to work… we always talk when she’s away and she never mentions men, but this time she was different, she couldn’t tell me enough about you, she couldn’t help herself. I think she was totally smitten by you, Jake. What a tragedy…’
‘Oh shit, that’s not good, look – we can leave this if you want?’
‘No, not at all – listen, she’s dead, Okay. You know it and I know it, but I’m so pleased that she was happy, that she had you on her mind instead of that asshole…’
‘What arsehole would that be?’ I asked.
‘Her asshole, ex-husband – Derek,’ she said, angrily.
‘Derek!’ I exclaimed. ‘Derek, is that his name, she was married to someone called Derek?’ I chuckled loudly.
‘Yes, she was – why, what’s so funny about that?
‘Oh, God,’ I said, grinning widely. ‘It’s nothing serious, just something that Andi I were talking about, she just creased-up at the time, and now I know why!’
‘Well, his name is Derek and he is an asshole,’ she said, joining me in my grin.
‘Gave her a lot of grief, did he?’
‘Yes and he still does, the prick! God, he’s like a cancer!’
‘Why, I thought they were finished?’ I said, raising my eyebrows.
‘They were, within one year of Harley being born he had left, she thought that would be an end to it, but not Derek, he came back for money and he said…’
‘…if Andi didn’t pay, he’d take Harley?’ I murmured.
‘Oh, you know about that…’ she said, looking surprised.
I told her that Mary had mentioned it, whilst we had been waiting for her and Harley. Bry nodded in understanding.
I also said, ‘Plus, she wrote me that letter, remember?’
Bryony blushed, saying: ‘Oh, yes – I rang her as she was writing it, God, I’d forgotten about that!’ She paused to sit in silence for a while. After a few moments, she said, ‘I told her to grab you with both hands, if she felt so strongly about you then she should definitely go for it! I told her to do some other stuff with you, too, but she said that you were too much of a gentleman…’
This time it was she who raised her eyebrows.
‘Yeah, well that kind of thing is probably best saved for when you’re off-task,’ I said, grinning at her.
‘That kind of thing… Goodness me, you’re a real romantic, aren’t you, Jake Collins?’
‘And you’re a bigger flirt than your sister was!’ I said, laughing at her.
‘Oh, yes, definitely I am – Andi was a complete amateur compared to me!’ she said, batting her eyelids ridiculously.
I didn’t mind, it was fun and relieved the tension of the situation we were in. Plus, and being brutally honest with myself, Andi was dead. She and I had never made any commitment to each other, we’d never had the chance, and although I was in some kind of mourning for her, I knew that I didn’t have to sit in some darkened room and cry for a year. I doubt very much that she would have wanted me to.
We sat and talked for hours, Bry sipping on cocktails and me back on the beer. Eventually, Marco came across and told us that the place was closing. I looked at my watch, surprised to see that it was gone two-am. Glancing around, I saw that the room was empty. Marco must have just waited for us until he couldn’t wait any longer. Finishing our drinks, I put the bill on my room and tipped Marco with a twenty-dollar note.
Bry and I headed for the lift and another bout space-flight… Stepping out into the cold dawn air, I lent a hand whilst she put a woollen shawl over her shoulders, waiting as she shrugged it into a comfortable position.
‘Right,’ she said, ‘Where to now, Mr Collins?’
‘To be honest, I’ve had about as much alcohol as I can take – but I am starving… do you fancy something to eat?’ I said.
‘Indeed I do, come with me, darling, and I shall show you one of the best-kept secrets in this dirty old town…’
We had a breakfast of steak, eggs, fries and coffee, and it was delicious. The café was small, dingy, and hidden up a side street, but they sure knew how to cook. I had a second helping and then we shared some more coffee, sitting and blathering on until the dawn came. Eventually we decided it was time to leave, Bryony insisting that she picked up the tab. I waited for her to pay, and then we walked out onto the street and headed back to Times Square in search of a cab.
Just before she climbed into the taxi, Bry said: ‘Oh, don’t forget to come to our house for a meal, will you?’
‘That’s a date, I’d like that,’ I said, holding the door open for her.
‘When do you leave, you know – to go home?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘In a couple of days, probably…’
‘Okay, well, I’ll call you later, if that’s alright?’
I nodded, ‘That’ll be great, just don’t make it too early!’
She smiled, saying: ‘Thanks for a lovely night, Jake. And thanks for coming all the way over here, and for being so cool with Harley, too!’
‘My pleasure, it was the least I could do…’
Bryony gave me a hug and then turned to slide onto the back seat. I closed the door behind her, standing to watch as the cab glided away. Shivering, I turned on my heel and went back to my room.
***
I slept until ten – rising late and spending another hour in the gym before returning to my room and taking a quick shower. Checking my mail, I saw that there were at least three messages from people I did work for. I never opened any of them, walking away and putting the kettle on instead.
Bryony called me later in the day, asking if we could meet and have a pizza or something similar, I agreed immediately.
‘Okay, see you outside the hotel then, about six-ish…’ she said, sounding fed-up.
‘Yeah, that’s fine,’ I said. ‘Are you Okay, Bry? You don’t sound too happy.’
She sighed, saying: ‘I’ve just had a crappy day is all, I’ll tell you about it later, if that’s alright?’
Agreeing, I hung up and went back to watching the news – there was some serious shit going down in Syria. I was glad I wasn’t there at the moment, I‘d had a guts-full of that stuff for the time being. No, all this old-soldier had to do tonight was to go downstairs and wait on the pavement for a ride with a beautiful woman. Yeah, that sure sounded far more appealing to me than yet another ride into an unknown hell-hole.
She met me as agreed, but, and instead of the pizza, Bry suggested that we go to her favourite steakhouse, which lay just a short taxi-ride away. I agreed, but only if I was allowed to pay.
It was another nice place, the fish-platter we had as a starter was about the biggest I’ve ever seen, with lobster-tails the size of a baby’s arm. The steak was perfect
, the red wine warm, and the company better than all of them put together. Bry was funny, she was interesting, and she looked good. What else could I ask for?
‘So, what was the matter earlier on?’ I asked, sipping on my drink.
‘Oh, you know… just stuff?’
‘Nope,’ I said. ‘I don’t know, what stuff, why don’t you tell me – is it to do with Andi?’
‘Yeah, pretty much…’ she said, puffing out an exasperated breath.
‘Anything I can do to help?’ I asked, seriously.
Looking at me for a moment, she took a drink of her wine, leaned over the table towards me, and, in a very conspiratorial tone, said, ‘Jake, I don’t suppose you do hit-jobs, do you?’
I nearly spayed red wine all over her beautiful face.
‘What?’ I said, lowering my tone. ‘Hit-job… what, are you fucking kidding me?’ I stared at her in amazement. This was not good…
‘Yes,’ she said, with a big grin making her killer dimple activate the charm button. She giggled, saying: ‘God, the look on you face just then – I thought you were going to choke!’
‘You better be,’ I warned her, trying not to laugh, ‘We could get into some serious shit for even thinking about stuff like that!
‘I know, but a girl can have her wishes, can’t she?’
‘Yeah, but just remind me not to get into your bad-books, huh?’
Straightening her face, and with the smile rapidly disappearing, Bry said, ‘It’s that almighty prick, Derek! So-help-me-God, I could…’
‘What is it, he’s not going for Harley, is he, now that Andi’s…’
‘Not exactly,’ she said. ‘He’s stating that all of the insurance from Andi’s policy is his – they never finalised the divorce, so, legally he’s still her husband…’
‘But… they’ve been separated for years, haven’t they – can’t you explain that to the judge, or something?’
‘Yes, we could – in about three years’ time, and by then there won’t be any money left to argue over, the lawyers will have eaten it all-up...’ She paused and looked out of the window, her frustration plain to see.
